Door-latch.



J. T. MOBTBNSON.

Doon LAToH. l APPLIOATIOI PILED'IAY 4, 1814.

Patentd Oct. 27, 1914.

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UNIT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JMES T. MORTENSON, 0F KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T0 PETER B. NELSON, OF

KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

DUDE-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

Application led May 4, 1914. Serial No. 836,321.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMEs T. MoR'rENsoN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Ken-osha. in the county of Kenosha and State of lllisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door- Latches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

lily invention has for its object to provide a simple, economical .and effective door latch, the same being particularly designed for application to refrigerator doors or the like, wherein an approximately air-tight seal is desired between the door and its opening. The construction and arrangement of the latch is such that it is capable of self adjustment to compensate for swelling or shrinkage.

Primarily the invention embodies a reciprocative spring-opposed bolt under control of an oscillatory cam-carrying lever, which lever is provided with connections for manual manipulation upon either side of the door, it being understood that the bolt co-acts with a keeper or socket bracket carried by the door jamb and that the said bolt is suitablyattached to the door.

lWith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain peculiaritiesy of construction and combination of parts as hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a face view of a fragment of a door and its jamb equipped with a latch embodying the features of my invention, parts being broken away and in section to more clearly illustrate details of construction; Fig. 2, a sectional plan view of the latchV and door, the section being indicated by line 2 2 of Fig. 1, andFig. 3 an inverted detailed plan view of a portion of the bolt.

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents a 1atch-plate that is secured to a door 2. The latch-plate is provided with projecting ears 3, 3', between which is pivoted one end of an actuating lever 4, the opposite free end of the saine being curved outwardly to offset from said plate having a vertically disposed hand-grip 4. The lever is also provided with a camshoe 5 inplate.

termcdiate of its ends, which cam is formed with an oblique working face 5 that terminates with a Straight faced stop-lug 5. The plate ear 3 is provided with a rightangle apertnred web 3, the aperture in which web is alined with the rectangular throat of a clip G, the same being bolted or otherwise secured to the front edge of the Shiftably mounted in the clipthroat is the rectangular neck portion 7 of a plunger-holt, the same heilig provided with a tail stem 7' that is guided within the aperture of the ear-web 3, being disposed in parallel relation to the oscillatory lever. Hence it is manifest that, owing to engagement of the neck portion of, the bolt with the rectangular throat of the clip, twisting of said bolt inits guides is eliminated. At the base of the bolt-neck the same is forwardly offset for the reception of an anti-friction roller 8 constituting a tappet for engagement with the working face of the lever-cam 5, it being understood that said cam is inclined from its high point in a backward direction toward the fulcrum point of the actuating lever. Surrounding the stem 7 of the holt is a coiled spring 9, Which'coiled spring is interposed between the web 3'. and the end face of the squared neck portion of said bolt, whereby the latter is forced forward under spring tension. Forward movement of the bolt is limited by engagement of its tappet or roller with the cam and this engagement serves to force the inner edge of the actuating lever et against the face of the lateh-plate, the said engagement beingcaused through the infincnce of the bolt-spring. The bolt movement is limited in the opposite direction by a shouldered head 7," of lsaid bolt that en gages the adjacent face of the clip, the head being bifurcated for the reception of an anti-friction roller S', as shown.

A keeper-bracket 10 is secured to the doorjamb 2', the same being provided with a socket 10' that is adapted to receive the bolt-head. One wall 10 of the bracketsocket is inclined, as shown, and adapted to be engaged bythe bolt-head roller 8', whereby the spring pressure exerted upon said bolt tends to force the door inwardly when the latter is in itsclosed position as shown in Fig. 2. The inclined wall 10" is, inturn,

the said bolt merged into an oppositely inclined bolt-engaging or striking plate 10', which striking plate comes in contact with the bolt roller when the door is about to seat within the jamb and thus forces said bolt back to load its spring preparatory to the said bolt being shot into its socket.

rlhe latch-plate 1 is apertured for the reception of an inside latch-stem 11, the outer end of which stem projects through the plate and is provided with a nose 11 that engages a socket formed in the lower face of the actuating lever 4. ,'llhe inner end of the stem 11. projects through a guide-plate 12 that is secured to the inner face of the door and the extreme end of saidv stem is provided with an actuating knob 13.

As shown in the drawings, the door1 is illustrated in its closed position with the bolt-head roller in engagement with the in. clined face 10 of the socket and hence the spring pressure exerted upon said bolt will tend to force the door tightly against the seating faces of the jamb to hermetically seal the same. The tappet roller 8 of the bolt at the same time exerts pressure upon the working face of the lcam 5, whereby the actuating lever is jammed tightly against the outer face of the plate. v l

From thel foregoing description it is obvious that, in order to open the door from the outside, a -pull upon the hand-grip d of said lever will cause the latter to swing outwardly upon its pivot and the inclined'working face of the cam will thus, through its Q engagement with the tappet-roller 8, causey the bolt 4 to be retracted from the socketbracket7 whereby said bolt is freed and the door may be swung open. ln this oscillatory movement of the'lever it isobvious that the connected stem 11 will slide outwardly to compensate for the lever movement, there being lsulicient play between the lever aperture and nose of said stem to permit arc movement of the lever without cramping the sliding stem. llt is also manifest that, lin. orderto open the door from the inside,'it is only necessary to push the stem r11-outa wardly, wherebymotion is transmitted to the oscillatory lever, which motion, in turn, causes retraction of the bolt. l

While l `have shown and described the latch-stem 11 having a nose 11 engaging a socket formed in the lowerv face of the actuating lever 4, it is obvious th it this .latchn f stem may be lentirely disconnected from the' lever with the nose` 11. arranged to abut the miennes face of the same, whereby the lever is actuated from the inside of'the door, in this construction the stem constituting a pushrod which will not be moved when the lever is actuated to release the latch.

ll claim:

1. A'locl: comprising a spring-controlled reciprocative bolt, a socket-bracket for engagement therewith, a tappet carried by the bolt, a pivoted actuating lever associated with said bolt having a handle odset from the bolt in one direction, the said actuating lever being oscillatorily moved in a plane common to movement of the bolt, a retracting cam carried by the lever for engagement with the bolt tappet,'and an `'independent slidablestem o'set from the lever in the opposite direction froml its 'handle 'having means engageable with the lever.

2. A lock comprising a plate,a springcontrolled reciprocative bolt 'in slidable union with the plate, a head in connection with the bolt having an anti-friction roller, a socket-bracketfor engagement with the anti-friction roller, the socket being providedwith an inclined face that is merged into an oppositely inclined striking plate, a tappet roller extending from` the bolt intermediate of its ends, a lever in fpivotal union with the latch-plate, a camA having an 1n- 'cl-ined working face engageable with the tappet-roller, and means oset :Eromithe lever in opposite directions for actuating the l same from the inside or loutside-of the door.

3.'A'lock comprising a plate, a spring- Qunion with the plate, a head in connection with the bolt having an Ianti-friction roller,`

"a socket-bracket for engagement with the anti-friction roller, .the socket being provided with an inclined-face that is merged into an oppositely inclined strilnn plate, a tappet roller "extending from the 'olt 1nsitioned at a right angle to the leverengageable with'the same?, j I

1n testimony that li claim the for'egoingllA have hereunto set'my hand at Kenosha, 1n-

;contr:olled reciprocative bolt in slidable' l,

the county of Kenosha and State' of Wisconsin, in the'presenee of two witnesses.` i JAMES T. MORTENSN."` Witnesses: y.

l 1 FRANK Y. MoKiNsTRir', W.. il. Dori?. 

